The invention relates to a method for suspending the female urethrovesical junction, also called bladder neck, with sutures and an anchoring means to anchor said sutures. The invention also relates to systems for positioning anchoring means in living tissue.
Stress incontinence is caused by increased abdominal pressure. One surgical method for treating this condition involves suspension of the bladder neck for repositioning in the correct fixed retropubic position such that there is no voiding of the bladder under stress and at the same time bladder outlet obstruction is avoided. Four relatively non-invasive surgical procedures for bladder neck suspension are described in Hadley et al., Urologic Clinics of North America, Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 291 (1985). In the original Pereyra method, a needle is passed from a suprapubic incision to an incision in the vagina near the bladder neck. Stainless steel suture wire is passed several times from the bladder neck to the suprapubic incision to suspend the bladder neck. The Cobb-Radge method inserts the needle from below through the vaginal incision. The Stamey procedure uses an endoscope to prevent the surgical needle from puncturing the bladder. Dacron vascular graft is used to anchor nylon suture in the periurethral tissue. Finally, in the Raz method the surgeon inserts his finger through the vaginal incision to guide the suspension needle and avoid penetration of the bladder by the needle. The sutures are anchored by threading through tissue of the vaginal wall and tissue in the suprapubic area.
A major problem encountered during surgical needle suspension procedures such as described above is the correct positioning of the bladder neck and the urethra such that the position of the bladder neck with respect to the bladder is high enough to avoid incontinence under stress while not too high to prevent proper bladder voiding.
The invention is an improvement over the prior art by providing for easy adjustment of the suspending sutures to lower or raise the bladder neck during surgery, and for readjustment to lower or raise the bladder neck, if necessary, after the patient has benefited from the suspension procedure. The invention also allows for more secure anchoring of the sutures without extensive tissue suturing to prevent lowering of the bladder neck over time. Furthermore, the invention reduces the amount of tissue dissection required to place the tissue anchors in proper position.
A system for positioning of anchoring means used during surgical procedures is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,040 disclosing a hollow needle containing a retaining device attached to a filament. The retaining device after dislodging from the needle attaches to the interior wall of a body organ, and the filament is pulled to draw the device against the body wall. The filament is clamped outside the body to keep the organ in position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,469 describes placement of a pacemaker within a patient through a sleeve which is positioned in the body through a needle or over a guide wire which enters the patient within a needle and remains after the needle is removed.
The above prior art devices are helpful in introducing objects into the body, but do not have the versatility of the systems of the invention described below.